


Why Teaching Children With Boggarts is a Bad Idea

by Thewatermelonwarrior



Series: The World Needs More Boggart Fics [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
Genre: Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Boggarts, Canon-Typical Violence, Child Abuse, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Flashbacks, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, M/M, Panic Attacks, Past Child Abuse, Season/Series 02 Spoilers, Todoroki Enji | Endeavor Being An Asshole, endeavor's a+ parenting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-11
Updated: 2020-03-11
Packaged: 2021-03-01 00:42:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,289
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23106418
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thewatermelonwarrior/pseuds/Thewatermelonwarrior
Summary: Lupin probably should have known that forcing his students to face their worst fears in front of the entire class could only end in disaster.Aka: the fic where Todoroki Shouto faces his Boggart and everything goes horribly
Relationships: Midoriya Izuku/Todoroki Shouto
Series: The World Needs More Boggart Fics [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1660828
Comments: 32
Kudos: 392





	Why Teaching Children With Boggarts is a Bad Idea

**Author's Note:**

  * For [aavocado](https://archiveofourown.org/users/aavocado/gifts).



> Basically I told my girlfriend that I wrote this fic and she basically demanded that I post it lmao
> 
> I was already planning to post it anyway so here you go lol

Shouto does his best to focus on anything but the rumbling closet at the front of the room. He takes deep breaths in and lets them out, forcing the rising panic behind a wall in his mind as he does so.

His face shows none of this, remaining stoic throughout.

He slinks away from the front of the class as Professor Lupin, with the help of a Gryffindor named Granger, explains what a boggart is. Because of all things Shouto has to face a boggart. He forces thoughts pertaining to his father into his subconscious, unwilling to show that particular detail of his life to anyone, much less his housemates.

A quivering Gryffindor faces the creature and it turns into Professor Snape. Shouto almost wants to laugh, but the anxiety building in his stomach catches in his throat.

Shouto's heart beats faster the closer he gets to the front. Maybe if he uses the spell quickly enough, nobody will notice. He's only three away now. Is it too late to ask Lupin if he can pass?

A hand slams into the small of Shouto's back and he stumbles forwards, right into the boggart's path. It shifts and he freezes, unwilling to look away from the floor.

"Shouto." The single word is enough to send a shiver down his spine but he beats the panic back. The sooner he performs the stupid spell on the stupid boggart, the sooner he can forget about his stupid old man. He looks up and falters at what he sees. His father isn't looking at him. Shouto follows his gaze to a small child with familiar white and red hair crumpled at Endeavour's feet. The boy retches and bile climbs up Shouto's throat.

"You'll never beat All Might if you go down after something like that," Endeavour says, thankfully in Japanese. Shouto raises his wand.

"R-riddikulus." The boggart shifts again and Shouto can't quite decide if this is worse. A woman with long white hair sobs, clutching a phone close to her ear.

"Shouto's... that child's left side sometimes looks very unsightly to me."

"Mom?" The little boy is peeking at his mother from behind the door, confusion and hurt leaking into his small, fragile voice. 

She can only see the left side of his face. 

Shouto closes his eyes and looks away, but the events from that day play in his mind's eye. The look of wide-eyed terror on his mother's face. The fear that gripped his heart in a vice that even many years later still holds him prisoner. The boy with red and white hair screams in torment and Shouto's fingers ghost over his left eye as he sinks to his knees.

His mind hazily registers someone stepping between him and the boggart as he battles the turbulent storm of tears that lingers just beneath the surface of his vacant expression. Whispers erupt from the class once the boggart is gone and Shouto wants nothing more than to silence them. His head is so full with the echoes of fists striking frail skin and shrieking kettles and agony-ridden screams and the hate hate HATE that rings in his ears that he can't take any more noise.

He doesn't realize he's shaking until Lupin puts a hand on his shoulder.

"Go to the hospital wing and get Madam Pomfrey to give you a calming draught." Shouto nods dumbly. "Harry, can you take him there?" In any other situation, Shouto would question the professor's decision to have a Gryffindor take a Slytherin to the hospital wing, but he isn't sure he can speak and he's too afraid to try. Potter opens his mouth to object, but follows the command after Lupin gives him a stern look. Potter guides Shouto to his feet and slowly leads him towards the hospital wing.

They're almost halfway there when a sudden spike of anxiety curls in Shouto's gut and he falls to his knees. All of the turmoil he suppressed during class forces its way through his crumbling mental walls all at once. He curls in on himself, hoping his bangs keep Potter from seeing the tears stinging his eyes.

"Er... Todoroki?" Potter sounds unsure as his hand hovers an inch from Shouto's quaking shoulders. Shouto doesn't respond and only curls further into himself. He tries to breathe, but he can barely manage ragged gasps that tear themselves out of his chest. Shouto clenches his fists and forces himself to speak.

"Please... don't... tell..." He loses the fight with the anxiety wracking his body as he melts into a puddle of panic and fear. He stiffens at the sound of rapidly approaching footsteps.

"Todoroki-kun!" Shouto sags in relief at the sound of the familiar voice. It's just Midoriya. But at the same time, the storm inside him only seems to intensify as soon as he thinks he's wrestled it back. The Ravenclaw barely spares Potter a glance as he rushes to Shouto's side and grabs his trembling hands. "Are you alright?" Shouto raises his head for one second to meet Midoriya's worried gaze. His mismatched hair sways gently as he shakes his head and looks back to the floor. Midoriya directs his attention to Potter.

"What happened?"

Potter fidgets uncomfortably. "Er... Professor Lupin had us face a boggart." Midoriya's expression darkens, but he gestures for Potter to continue. "Todoroki got pushed in the way and it showed..." Potter trails off and Shouto forces back a sob that threatens to burst out of his throat. "There was a huge man with red hair and a woman with white hair and... a little boy that looked a lot like Todoroki." Midoriya's grip on Shouto's hands tightens for a moment before he lets go and throws his arms around Shouto's shoulders.

Before Shouto can stop himself, he's clinging to Midoriya's robes with quivering fingers. The green-haired boy shifts so Shouto's head is tucked into the crook of his neck. He holds Shouto close in a strong embrace.

"Don't worry. They can't hurt you anymore. You can cry, it's okay. I'm here." A tear slips down Midoriya's cheek and Shouto breaks. He clutches Midoriya like a lifeline and the green-eyed boy holds him like he's trying to keep him from falling apart. But Shouto is so shattered that if he fractures one more time he may well disintegrate.

It isn't okay. He doubts he will ever be okay again. But he knows that Midoriya means to say that it's okay to not be okay. It's what he always means.

...

Harry watches awkwardly as Todoroki, the most stoic person Harry has ever met, clings to the green-haired Ravenclaw boy and weeps. The boy (Midoriya?) rubs Todoroki's back and lets him sob into his shoulder while mumbling quiet reassurances in Japanese. Harry winces when a particularly painful wail struggles out of Todoroki's chest.

This is private. He doesn't want to see this. Whatever or whoever the boggart took the form of clearly hurt Todoroki in the past. So much so that the supposedly emotionless boy was reduced to tears. But Harry can't look away.

Eventually, the Ravenclaw coaxes the still sobbing boy to his feet and Harry helps them get to the hospital wing. Harry is quickly ushered back to class once they arrive as the green-haired boy insists he can handle Pomfrey on his own.

The bell rings before Harry has a chance to return to class.

...

Remus sits at his desk with his head in his hands. He'd planned to stop the boggart before Harry could go, so when he saw Todoroki in line behind Harry he felt no need for concern. Above all, Remus was worried that Todoroki's fear would be a corpse, specifically that of his closest friend Midoriya.

He couldn't have been more wrong.

It's glaringly obvious that Todoroki didn't have a happy childhood. The idea that the man and the woman shown could very well be Todoroki's parents sends a shiver down the werewolf's spine, but he can't deny the possibility.

The second vision explains the origin of Todoroki's scar as well...

Remus swears under his breath. Regardless, he caused great pain to one of his students. He refuses to forgive himself.

...

"Who d'you reckon those people in Todoroki's boggart were?" Ron asks bluntly. Harry shrugs. Hermione sighs.

"It's really none of our business," the bushy-haired girl says. Ron pops a candy in his mouth.

"You must have some idea, right 'Mione?" Harry asks. Hermione purses her lips.

"I do but..." She turns the page of the absurdly large book on her lap. "I don't think it's something Todoroki wants people to know about."

'Please... don't... tell...' Harry fidgets as the words come to his mind.

"Then again, it's probably not the sort of thing that should be kept secret." Hermione closes her book and gestures for Ron and Harry to lean closer. "I think the man and the woman were..." she makes sure nobody is in hearing range. "... his parents."

"What?!" Harry hisses, fighting to keep his voice down.

"You remember when little Todoroki called out to the woman?" Harry and Ron nod. "He called her okaa-san. I looked it up, and okaa-san is Japanese for mum." The three share a glance. "They also both called Todoroki by his given name, Shouto, without any honorifics."

"So... his parents did that to him?" Ron says. Harry isn't sure how to respond. Both Hermione and Ron are watching him closely. Growing up without parents was hard. Growing up with the Dursleys hadn't made it any easier. And they hadn't shied away from hitting him. But... Vernon never punched him so hard he puked. Petunia never poured boiling water on him, scarring him for life.

And Harry always had the faith that his parents would have loved him, if they hadn't died.

He doesn't know which is worse.

He isn't sure he wants to know.

...

Izuku watches over Todoroki like a mother hen, even after the tears on both their cheeks have long since dried. Todoroki sits on the hospital wing bed with his chin on his knees as he stares into the middle distance. A strange clock marks each passing second with a soft tick. 

"How are you holding up?"

Todoroki shrugs. Izuku drums his fingers on his knees.

"Potter-kun said someone pushed you." Todoroki tenses. "Any idea who it might be?" Todoroki looks down at the white bedsheets. "I-it's okay if you don't know. Or if you don't want to tell me. I mean, it's not like it would fix anything and you were probably facing the front of the room so you probably didn't even see them or..." Izuku cuts himself off. "Sorry, I'm muttering again." Izuku scratches the back of his head as a light blush rises to his freckled cheeks.

"It's fine, I don't mind." Todoroki pauses. "I think it was a Slytherin. Probably one of Malfoy's group." Izuku glares at the stone floor tiles. "I was pretty close to the back of the class and from what I remember he was right behind me." Izuku's hands ball into shaking fists.

"Why would they... you're in the same house!" Hot tears come unbidden to Izuku's eyes. "I was okay with it if they were mean to me because I'm muggleborn but..." 

"Stop blaming yourself." Izuku's head shoots up to look at Todoroki. "It's Malfoy's fault for being a prat." Izuku almost chuckles, but the laugh dies in his throat. It ends up sounding like a cough.

"But it's because you hang out with me."

"Midoriya-"

"You don't have to worry about hurting my feelings. I-if you don't want to be friends anymore I understand." Izuku looks back down at his lap. "It's all my fault that you had to go through that shit again." The silence is only broken by the rustling of fabric as Izuku fidgets with the hems of his robes.

"What my old man... what Endeavour did wasn't your fault," Todoroki says.

"But-"

"There was nothing you could have done." Izuku looks up to meet Todoroki's heterochromatic gaze. "You... you were my first friend." Silence reigns for a moment. "You helped me so much... I just... I dunno if I'll ever be able to repay you." Izuku winces. A debt, huh? "Besides, Malfoy hated me before he knew about you." Izuku shuffles his chair closer to the bed.

"Why?" Todoroki looks up at the ceiling.

"Hell if I know. Everything I said seemed to personally offend him somehow." Izuku giggles, but quickly stops himself short of full blown laughter.

"I'm supposed to be the one comforting you, Todoroki-kun," Izuku mumbles with a small smile, not expecting his friend to hear.

"Oh. Sorry, I guess." Todoroki looks back at Izuku. The green-haired boy fights back a blush of embarrassment. "It's mostly the calming draught, but I feel better than I probably should after... that." Izuku worries his lower lip.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Todoroki hesitates, grabbing a fistful of the bedsheets.

"At first..." Todoroki bows his head forward and his hair shadows his eyes. "I thought that my boggart meant that I'm still afraid of my father." Izuku slips his scarred hand into Todoroki's grasp, interlacing their fingers. "But... I think that I'm afraid of..." Todoroki's grip tightens. "I'm afraid that one day I'll wake up and this will all have been a dream." Izuku's heart gives a painful squeeze. "That I'll be back in that house. And that..." Todoroki looks into Izuku's eyes. "That it turns out you aren't even real." 

Izuku stares at the other boy with wide eyes. He wants to cry and he isn't sure why, but he pulls his lips into a watery smile instead.

"I'm sorry, Todoroki-kun. Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere."


End file.
